(en) Anarkismo.net: Chile, definitely are not equal before the law by Chris Messina (ca) [machine translation]

Date
Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:31:39 +0200

Public statement at the murder of union leader Juan Pablo Jimenez ---- The double
treatment from the authorities is not an accident, it is the result that Chile is clearly
a society divided into social classes ---- The working class has lost a fighter: Union
leader dies of a bullet ---- February 27: march for truth and punishment for the murder of
Juan Pablo Jimenez ---- Following the assassination of Juan Pablo Jimenez, AZETA union
leader, Chilectra subcontractor, many workers, including leaders, demanded the same
treatment as the government gave the family landed Luchsinger when killed in Temuco and
that meant that the state Chilean deploy many institutions and mobilize maximum resources
and means to find those responsible. Within 48 hours, the police had already detained
Mapuche leaders accusing them, without any evidence, liability in that crime.

Death, more specifically, the murder of an employee within a company will always be a
serious, regrettable and condemnable. However, acquires greater importance in the case of
a union leader who, exactly, was preparing actions to denounce abusive practices of this
company, whose history in the treatment of labor rights is tinged with the death of
another worker in the recent past.

What conclusions can we draw workers from this fact?

That the much-vaunted "rule of law" to which both the powerful and resort, that presidents
Frei and Lagos strove to guarantee any price to give "stability" to the owners of Chile,
is merely a political and legal guarantees to everyone "what he deserves" the rich, legal
security, economic and police to maintain and further enhance their illegitimate wealth
and the poor, subsidies, repression and punishment for not rise up for justice and higher
wages. Frei, invoking the "rule of law" alleged "reasons of state" to end research
condemning Pinochet's son ("Pinocheques") to end up in jail, then, for the same reasons,
mobilized all institutions Chilean state, investing millions of dollars to prevent
Pinochet was tried and convicted in England. Similarly, using the franchises of "rule of
law", Lagos, ignoring all historical Horst Paulmann, linking him to a Nazi past, was
awarded the "nationality by grace", adding: "This, thanks to its tremendous contribution
to Chile ". Paulmann is fond destroy unions, union practices applied permanently paying
starvation wages, evade paying taxes, etc. What is your contribution to Chile?.

When we are forced to respect the "rule of law", what is sought is that workers do not
break the law they have designed and realized to perpetuate their power. Apparently, the
laws enacted since the executive and the legislature then punishes. That is appearance.
The truth is that the laws meet correlations of forces between social classes and adapted
to specific contexts. In our country, most of the laws, especially labor, are functional
to the business and constantly adapt to their interests. The best example is that in Chile
trades less than 7% of the workforce. Contract law, which allows the existence of
companies like Azeta where John Paul died, meets the strategies of large companies to
reduce costs, precarious employment and wages down to the maximum. Consequently, no law is
made to further the interests of the dispossessed. Those laws have made in the last 40
years, there have been those in power, have been big business: the Matte, the Luksic,
Paulmann, Angelini, Yarur, etc. It is they who build the agenda and that governments apply
cautelando one of its main principles in all areas of society, profit and private
initiative as the foundation of his philosophy.

It is false, absolutely false, that all "are equal". The Church hierarchy which promotes
this speech, especially the Catholic linked in recent years to the most horrific behavior
against children, is determined to give a lecture on "moral" and tries to convince us that
we are all equal, equal in what? - Absolutely in income. But also we have different moral.
They believe in the exploitation of man by man, believe that personal growth is the result
of individual effort and does not influence the socio-economic context in which the person
was born. We believe that wealth is a result of human labor collective, harmonious and
respectful relationship with nature; them, not to destroy howling if they can get gain;
appropriate the wealth that we generate. They believe in the health, education and private
provision, we instead believe that health, education and foresight are inalienable
fundamental rights which the State must ensure that all workers, both active and passive
life regardless of their social status, and therefore can not be subject to loss. They
believe in individualism and support priests linked to the most atrocious and spurious
behaviors, as Karadima. Workers who believe or not believe in the collective, in the joint
effort and practice real solidarity as part of his life, with its squalid income. They
sympathize tax exemptions under make such as the Telethon.

In anything we resemble them

We have nothing in common with entrepreneurs, on the contrary, his philosophy is attempted
threat to our very existence, we are doomed to barbarism. Prevent us from being happy.
Only in January, there were more than 20 strikes where workers demanded little things like
respect, dignity and small wage increases. The overwhelming response was arrogance and
intransigence and not because they are companies with losses, in contrast, are companies
with large profits. The problem lies elsewhere, they are not willing to give up, is an
ideological issue, want to remove the union as a legal entity, want to eliminate the
vocabulary the word "collective" and not yield by partial strikes many do. The conclusion
we must infer, is that we are in a period of history that demands a new strategy, but
supported by a "new morality", ie, a new set of practices, beliefs note that justice never
work charity will come from employers, let alone improving the quality of life of workers,
especially the 75% of Chileans working for an income of less than 350,000 per month.

We have said, workers want to live in peace, but employers do not leave us. We declare war
on all fronts: in banks, in the AFP, in Isapres in Retail, in pharmacies, clinics, private
universities, in the great trade, that is, everywhere. We attack with abusive fees with
usurious interest rates, with administration costs that nobody understands. And what is
the role of the state in this matter? Reaffirm the civilian (liberal) of labor and social
relations of the country, where the "market" (by market understood, the powerful collusion
to fix prices and policies, ever think of freedom between supply and demand) who shall
resolve, divesting the State's role to protect fundamental rights.

What is left? one thing, prepare for this warfare. How? With more and more organizational
unit. Unifying all those fighting initiatives, of whom hold high autonomy and political
independence and unwilling to capitularle neither the current government nor employers.
With a class organization that represents only the interests of workers and never agreed
upon with the authorities behind, never mortgaging their independence by supporting
liberal governments. This effort requires great generosity of all, banish sectarian
practices, but being deeply uncompromising respect for autonomy, which demands exceed the
union bureaucracy is one of the worst pitfalls that workers have to move.

What forms of struggle? All

Workers at the impossibility of exercising fundamental rights are in all of our rights to
seek other forms of struggle, narrow frames exceeding this spurious legislation prepared
by them to curb our organizations in defending our rights. In Temuco, entrepreneurs, many
landowners, openly armed themselves and threatened that they would defend their property
and interests bullets and had the backing of ministers such as Agriculture and Interior.
That is, they confirmed that the rule of law have to use as they please, it is prudential
interests.

We have been notified, it clears the doubts. We, on this side of the sidewalk, those who
live with mediocre wages can we come to terms with these gunmen the business, who are bent
on destroying our hopes and dreams, and making prisoners endeudándonos your system?
Difficult if not impossible. So what's left? What is the way? be overthrown installed all
this false consciousness by the media they control and seeks to alienate. We must fight
all that speech "priestly" pusillanimous who profess to submit some saying that happiness
is not in this world if not in the hereafter. If we begin to socialize our demands, if we
install a discursive practice that incorporates reality blatantly, openly, if we install
in our analysis clearly the class struggle we are moving towards higher forms of
understanding, organizational dispute and to remove us potentiate foundations of the
capitalist system unjust and immoral.

We must channel all this anger, this hatred accumulated activated by the abject murder of
Juan Pablo Jimenez, and then channel it smartly against these immoral living and sleep
peacefully despite their responsibilities in these events.

It is clear and we must understand: they have a moral than us. The honesty of which they
boast is delict, is one that punishes year prison who steals a chicken, but
forgives-collar thieves. Ours is pure, transparent, naive, sometimes stupid, because we
believe them. Theirs is criminal, when their interests are affected not repaired in use
every means, legal and illegal, murder Mapuche, union leaders and, if this is not
satisfied, promote and support coups.

What is our task? Organize, unify and prepare for a big battle: the battle for dignity,
the battle over collective bargaining that deny us, the battle for a more just, more
humane, without exploiters and without exploited. No trust in state institutions, even in
those who demand a vote on the pretext of the "lesser evil", let alone those who agree
with those who have perpetuated this inhuman system.

The road, again, is in the unit, in the organization and in the struggle, so we can
provide the best tributes to JUAN PABLO JIMENEZ, leaving two small and his companion in
utter helplessness. We give concrete signs now, the morning service plays the murderers of
John Paul and opens the appetites of other rogue employers to settle debts with honest
shot fighters.